Circus Life
by Damia - Queen of the Gypsi's
Summary: The senshi lose all that they hold dear and end up working at a circus,
1. Not Perfect

The girl looked at the address on the paper in her hands. This was it. She walked up to the largest tent and went in. There was a man, no, scratch that, he was to young to be a man. He was playing with the lions in the middle of the rings. She smiled. They looked so fearsome, those playful lions. The were roaring and snapping, but she saw through it. They were happy to be around the person with them. He had a very good handle on the whip he was snapping. it didn't get anywhere near the lions, although it looked like it did. She raised an eyebrow and shrugged. She wasn't here to watch, she was here to see if she and the girls could get a job here or not. 

She thought back to that day two years ago. Haruka had died in a race when Oz had attacked and Michiru hardly talked at all anymore. On top of that, the Gods had forbidden Setsuna to leave the Gates of Time for more than an hour at a time. Everything had gone down from there. Two months after Haruka's death, they found out that Momaru was part of Oz and that it was he who had scheduled the attack that killed Haruka. Usagi was extremely mad. She took the golden crystal back, much to Mamoru's anger. He got back at her by attacking her fathers work when her mother and brother had gone to visit him. She lived in Michiru's mansion with all the rest of the girls. Rei's grandfather had died of a heart attack, and she refused to have anything to do with her father. Minako had started dating older men that used her and beat her. She was on a path of self destructive dating. They had all beat the crap out of the last one, and were now careful with the girl. Apparently the men had abused her mentally as well as physically. All in all, there lives weren't going to well. 

They had decided for a change, and they figured the best way was for all of them to leave and go somewhere else. They sold the mansion to someone with the last name of Winner. Makoto had made rude comments about _that_ last name for a while. They had all changed. Michiru was still refined and beautiful, but she was a lot more quiet, and fiercely protective. Minako was still as bubbly as ever, but she tended to burst into tears if some one she didn't know well was mean to her. Kind of like Usagi used to, only not as loud. Ami was still reserved and self effacing, but she was a fully qualified MD. Makoto tended to lose her temper a lot more easily, and she wouldn't take anything from anybody. She had become everyone's protector. Rei was Rei. She was the same as always, only she didn't make fun of Usagi as much. She had become more mysterious than ever in the eyes of the men around her. Usagi was still the happy girl that seemed as innocent as a humming bird, but she was harder than she used to be. The girl frowned to herself. She wasn't sure how she herself had changed. She was stronger, that much she knew. The girls were a;ways saying that she got into weird moods where no one knew what she was going to do next. She shrugged to herself.

They had started a talent show of sorts, with all of the girls doing things that could bring in cash. They moved from one place to another every week or two. None of them liked sitting still, except for maybe Michiru and Ami. Ami kept the books, and did a few tricks every now and then. Michiru kept to wherever they were staying for the most part, but every now and then she played her Violin. Haruka had been her other half, her soul mate. All of the girls worried about her. Constantly moving also kept Mamoru from pinpointing their location. Usagi had pointed that out. So they kept moving to new places and new experiences. Then, one day last week, after a little over a year and a half of floating all over the place, the manager of a circus had seen them and wanted to know if he could hire them all to work at the circus. They had told him that they had to think it over so he had given them his name and number, plus the address of the circus. They had decided that they would do it. Hotaru was the one chosen to go and give him the news. 

She turned her attention back to the boy with the Lions. He had stopped and was looking at her. She started in surprise. 

"Yes?" he asked quietly. He had messy chocolate hair with long bangs that completely covered one eye. The eye that she could see was emerald green and there was no expression on his face.

"I was looking for the manager," She old him. He pointed to a trio of people by another entrance to the tent. She nodded and went over to them. She noticed that none of them were the manager. 

(AN- I don't remember the names of any of the people in the Circus except Catherine so I'm going to make up Alias' and your just gonna have to live with it. Most are gonna be slightly strange, but that's ok. They also dress like Circus people. I think they have the coolest clothes . . . I'm rambling, sorry - Damia )

"Do you need some help?" Asked a girl that looked about twenty two or so and had short spiky blonde hair and green eyes.

"Um, the boy with the Lions told me to come over here when I told him that I was looking for the manager," She told them.

"I'm his wife, call me Lady," A round lady said with a smile. She looked friendly, and had light brown hair with gray streaks in it that was in a bun at the nape of her neck. 

"Hello, I'm Hotaru, Can you tell me where your husband is?" She asked the lady.

"Right now he's in his office biting his nails over a group of girls that he wants to work here, unless your from that group, you can't see him at the moment, you'll have to deal with me instead," She said with a smile.

"I am from that group of girls. We decided that we would join," She said with a smile.

"Well aint that grand?" The last person said. He had tattoo's all over him. Not so that all of his skin was covered, but there was a lot of ink on the skin. He was about 6'8" and bald with a mustache He smiled at her and held out his hand. She shook it and smiled back. "I'm Ink," He told her with a grin.

"Don't worry, that's just a nick name he acquired a log time ago, he wont tell anyone his real name," The first one said, "I'm Dish," She told Hotaru.

"well, let's get you to my husband before all hell breaks loose," Lady told her with a deep chuckle. She led Hotaru out the tent they were in and into a large group of Trailers. Each of the trailers was painted differently, but Hotaru didn't have time to look at all of them, because the Managers 'office' was in a small trailer in the front of the group. It was black with bright red trimming. She went inside and saw the man she had met with Usagi.

The manager, also known as Georgio, was sitting behind a desk writing things down and counting things out.

"Hotaru, My dear, please tell me that you and your friends have decided to join us in traveling the colonies and earth," He said as he spotted her.

"Of course we did. If we had decided not to, we would have called instead," She said with a smile.

"Does that mean that you do not like to let people down, or does this mean that you do not like confrontation, I wonder," He said.

"It means we don't like being roped into something we don't want to do," Hotaru told him with a grin, "Which is exactly what you would have done," 

"Well, it is safer for you to be here with us than out on your own. A group of women is not safe in this day and age, not where you are performing," He told her seriously.

"We realize this. Trust me, we realize this more than you could imagine. That's part of the reason we agreed," Hotaru told him.

"Part?" He asked.

"It sounded fun as well. Not to mention that we wouldn't have to worry about a lot of the things we worry about now," She answered.

"So when are you going to come join us?" Georgio asked.

"We need to ask you a few questions first," She told him.

"Ask away," He told her, spreading his arms.

"First, where do we sleep?" She asked him.

"Trailers. If you cannot afford to get yourself one, you will be squeezed tight with a few others," She was told.

"We can afford that. Do we have days off?" 

"Many, any days that we are not performing or traveling," He told her.

"Good, Do we supply our own food?" 

"Only if you want something special. Everyone is required to clean up after themselves. My wife does the laundry with our daughter, you bring that to the wash trailer, I will show you that later,"

"I'll call the girls, when can we come," 

"Anytime," he told her.

"we'll get the trailers and be here by the end of the day," Hotaru told him. They shook hands and Hotaru left. She pulled a cell phone out of her pocket.

"Hello?" came a voice over the phone. It sounded tired.

"Hey Ami, What's going on over there?" hotaru asked.

"The people next door complained to the manager that Michiru was playing her Violin to loud, and the manager yelled at Minako, who burst into tears and Makoto got mad at him, Rei was stopping Makoto until the idiot said that a weak women like them wouldn't have to worry about hurting them ,and the only thing that stopped the two of them from ripping the bastards throat out was usagi, who came to the door just in time to tell them to stop. I had to calm down Minako and Michiru has locked the door and wont let anyone talk to her. Not to mention that the manager decided that he didn't want us to spend another night her. Did you talk to Georgio?" 

'Yeah, It's a good thing to. he said we could come anytime. we just need to get some trailers. That's what everyone here uses to live in. I told him we'd be here by the end of the day. I'll be home in a few, K?" She asked. 

"Alright, get here soon. Michiru is starting to scare us again," Ami said before hanging up. Hotaru closed her eyes and willed herself not to let the tears she felt, fall. She climbed onto the back of Haruka's old black Harley Davidson. She pulled on the helmet and roared off down the street to the motel they were in at the moment. 

  



	2. The Circus

*Damia and Wren enter*

Damia - "You aren't a very nice Muse,"

Wren - "I am to,"

Damia - "Are not,"

Wren - "Name one time I was mean to you?"

Damia - "What about all the yelling in my other stories?"

Wren - "You were being dumb,"

Damia - "I told you, mean,"

Wren - "No, simply honest,"

Damia - "If that's what it takes to make your conscience feel better,"

Wren - "Now who's being mean?"

Damia - "I'm simply being honest,"

Wren - "You are so twisting my words,"

Damia - "I have no idea what you are talking about,"

Wren - "I don't need to deal with this right now,"

Damia - "Say the disclaimer and I'll stop,"

Wren - "Fine, Damia does not own Sm or GW, . . . Happy?"

Damia - "For now,"

  


  


~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The Circus

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Wow, this is so cool," Minako said as she looked around her at everything. They had bought four trailers and had them delivered. The three normal sized ones had two bedrooms each, one small, one big. The smaller one had one bedroom. They all had a place to eat, a bathroom, and couches. Ami and Hotaru were sharing one, Usagi and Rei were sharing one, Makoto and Minako were sharing one, and Michiru had the other one. They had all decided that Michiru needed her own space. 

The girls had packed all their clothes and things into their bags and loaded them into the back of Makoto's truck and Rei's jeep. Usagi and the others were in the dark blue convertible that haruka had loved so much and had left to her Koneko in the will. They went to Georgio's office and let him know they were there.

"I'm so glad you all decided to join our family," Georgio said happily.

"So are we," Usagi answered with a smile.

"Let me show you where we put your trailers," He told them.

"I'll show them, dear" Lady said with a smile as she walked in, "You get back to work," She led them outside and showed them down the center of the group. they realized suddenly that there were little groups of trailers in the large group. They came to their four and discovered that there were three other trailers as well. The girls smiled and went into their trailers. It was seven at night by this time. The girls that were sharing trailers had decided that they could share the king size bed and use the smaller room to keep there stuff in. This had left a few arguments. They were going to take their time decorating their trailers. 

"Now, tomorrow you need to get to the big tent at about ten for breakfast, then we'll watch you all and decide on the acts that you'll be doing.

"Alright," Usagi answered. They all went into Makoto's and Minako's trailer so Makoto could cook for them and the went to their own trailers and went to bed. 

  


The next morning there was a loud shriek from one of the new trailers. Rei had just gotten Usagi out of bed. Rei climbed out of the trailer and walked over to Ami's. She was wearing her usual practice outfit. A pair of skin tight red yoga pants with a matching red skin tight tank top, a shawl of sheer red and black roses that was tied around her waist, and a pair of black ballet flats. Her hair was loose and came down to her knees with violet highlights. She pounded on Ami's and Hotaru's door until they came to answer it. 

'"What?" Ami asked.

"You need to get up," Rei told her.

"It's 7:30 am," Ami replied.

"We need to practice a bit," Rei told her.

"Is anyone else up?" Hotaru asked, coming up behind Ami.

"No, that's why it's the perfect time to practice," Rei answered.

"Fine, but I'll get up Michi-mama," Hotaru told her and disappeared back into the trailer.

"Fine, I'm going to go wake up Mako and Mina," Rei told them.

"Have fun," Ami called. Rei went over and knocked on the door. At her third knock, Hotaru left to go wake up Michiru. She was wearing a pair of black stretch pants underneath a pair of purple boxers and a black spaghetti strap tanktop and a pair of black ballet slippers. Her hair was in a bun at the back of her head.

"They up yet?" hotaru asked Rei. Rei shook her head.

"Nope,"

"Then go in and take their covers," Hotaru told her as she walked into Michiru's trailer. Usagi and Ami appeared at the same time. Ami was wearing a long blue gypsi skirt that went to her ankles and a darker blue shawl wrapped at her waist along with a white peasant blouse with short sleeves and her hair was down as usual. Usagi was wearing a white halter catsuit with a pink wrap that only came down to mid thigh and was completely sheer and her hair was french braided. Ami had on blue ballet flats, and Usagi had on pink ballet slippers. 

Rei walked into Makoto's and Minako's trailer. ten seconds later, two shrieks followed Rei back out. She smiled at the two in front of her.

"They'll be out in a moment," She told them.

"So will Michi-mama," Hotaru told them. Michiru came out then in a pair of aqua slacks that hugged her hips then fell straight, a fitted, cropped white tee shirt, a pair of suspenders, black loafers, and a black bowler. Makoto came out in a green tank top and a pair of green yoga pants as well as a green patchwork vest and brown ballet shoes. Minako was in a yellow cropped tank top with a pair of dark orange stretch pants and a sheer black over shirt that was four sizes too big. The shirt came to her knees, was rolled up to her elbows, and was belted with a lang fringed yellow scarf. 

"Let's go," Rei commanded. They went to the big tent. Ami and Michiru grabbed a duffel bag each and brought them with them. Usagi plugged in a CD player and put in ' Rage against the Machine, Battle of Los Angeles' 

"First we stretch," Minako announced. They all started to limber up and do warm ups. Twenty minutes later, they were warmed up. 

"What first?" Makoto asked Ami, who knew all of the routines by heart and knew what each person was up to at any given moment. 

The girls had opened for a few big acts and had learned new things all the time.

"Let's try Rei and her rings," Ami replied. They had stayed with this group for about three weeks, and This guy had shown Rei how to do all sorts of tricks with rings that you could fit through. She had taken it a step farther and set fire to the hoops.

"Who has them?" Rei asked. Michiru pulled the rings from her bag and tossed them to Usagi. Usagi distributed them to the other girls. They were scattered inside one of the three rings. 

"Michi, lead her please," Ami called. Michiru nodded and watched Rei stand in the middle of the circle. the idea was to dive, flip, and jump through each hoop. 

"Pretend this is for real, that they are on fire," Minako told Rei.

"Let's go," Usagi commanded.

"Ami," Michi said. Rei ran to the girl and dove through the hoop, landing in a somersault and hopping to her feet. "Usa," Rei did a neat back flip when she got there. "Mina," She did a ballet leap through it, landing on one foot and hearing Mina's name called again, quickly cart-wheeled through it. "Taru," She ran and dove out of it, landing with a hand spring. "Mako," Rei ran over and vaulted through it. They did that for the next ten minutes and then Ami decided that it was time for something else.

"Let's try the Arrow routine," Ami decided. Michiru tossed each of them a bow in their specific colors. Red for Rei, Blue for Ami, Black for Hotaru, Orange for Minako, Silver for Usagi, and Green for Makoto. Then she gave each of them a regular arrow. Only one. 

"Let's make this one a disqualification," Rei said.

"Let's go," Makoto said.

"Fine, Go," Michiru said. The idea was for each of them to shoot their arrow to someone else, who then caught it and shot it to someone else. They had to keep paying attention to everything around them. Two people couldn't shoot their arrows to the same person or that person could get hurt. To be disqualified, you had to drop the arrow, or shoot your arrow to someone that already had theirs. It was Michiru's job to play ref. The game went on for about twenty minutes without anyone getting out. Then Ami dropped her arrow while trying to grab it.

"Ami," Michiru called. Ami picked up the arrow and backed out of the circle. Ten minutes more. People started to trickle in to make breakfast. five minutes, Minako shot her arrow at Usa, who was just about ready to catch Rei's arrow. usagi caught Rei's and knocked Minako's out of the way to shoot her arrow at Makoto. "Minako," Michiru called. Minako backed out of the circle. fifteen minutes later Makoto over shot an arrow that Michiru caught. "Makoto," She called. Makoto backed out. It was now Hotaru, Rei and Usagi. Twenty minutes later they were still at it, but Rei and Usagi both shot their arrows at hotaru at the same time. When that happened, it depended on who's arrow the person caught as to who stayed in. Hotaru caught both and sent them both over to those that had already lost. 

"You two may duke it out," She told them, "I'm hungry," She walked towards the others and Rei shot the arrow at Usagi, who shot it at hotaru's back. Everyone gasped. hotaru turned, caught the arrow and shot it back to Usagi in a fluid movement. Usagi caught it and shot it to Makoto who caught it and put it into the bag with the other arrows. They cleaned up their things and went to get breakfast. Just about the entire circus was up to eat and do their stuff for the day. Everyone had trickled in to see the girls' practice. The boy that hotaru had seen playing with the Lions was watching them, a girl with thick light brown hair was with him. The girls walked over to the makeshift breakfast area. 

"That was wonderful," Georgio gushed as the sat down to eat. Ami and Minako blushed, Makoto and Usagi ducked there heads, Hotaru and Michiru ignored him, and Rei raised an eyebrow.

"Would you guys do that for us some time again?" He asked them.

"We could make it more interesting," Usagi suggested.

"What do you mean?" Georgio asked.

"5 of us shoot arrows, and the other one dances, flips, does a routine, whatever, in the middle of it all," Makoto answered.

"Could you do that?" Georgio asked eagerly.

"We'll have to practice some more first," Hotaru said.

"Yeah, and what about our other routines?" Minako asked.

"That's what I want to talk about today," He told them.

"Like what?" Usagi asked.

"Minako's Tightrope act is wonderful. So is Rei's flaming hoops," He told them.

"Good, we were practicing the hoops this morning," Ami remarked.

"Makoto, what would you like to do? You're a fighter and a dancer, I know that much," He told her.

"Could I do something with the animals?" she asked.

"I guess so, talk with their trainers," Georgio answered.

"I like doing the stunts, If you take me off them you will have a very unhappy little girl with you," Hotaru told the man. (An - don't you want to know what 'stunts' is?) 

"Of course not, I love your act," he told the girl.

"But?" She asked.

"But you wont be doing just that and your going to have to do some of them with other people," He told her. She shrugged.

"Fine with me," She told him.

"Usagi?" He asked.

"Yes?"

"Your a beautiful dancer, I don't want that to stop, however you'll be doing more than that as well," She nodded, "Ami," 

"yes Georgio," 

"What is it that you do exactly?"

"a little of this, a little of that," She told him.

"You're a clown now," She raised an eyebrow.

"Ok," She sounded a little dubious, but she agreed.

"Michiru?" He asked. She looked at him.

"Can you help with anything?" he asked her.

"Costumes, makeup, hair," She told him quietly.

"in that case you'll be in my wife's charge," he told her. She nodded. "Now that that's settled, I'll make the announcements and such. Oh yes, one more thing," he smiled at them, "Please use Alias' if your in any sort of trouble or just don't want to be bothered," He walked away.

"He is not normal," Usagi said decisively.

"No kidding," Rei answered. 

  


  



	3. The acts

~*~*~* 2 hours later

  


With Ami

  


"So what are we doing first?" Ami asked. She walked over to a group of seven that Georgio had told her to go to. They were all pretty much milling around and not doing anything.

"You're one of the new girls?" asked an extremely tall man with a bald head, a mustache and a lot of tattoos.

"yes, I'm Ami," She told him.

"I'm Ink," He held out a hand and she shook it, "These are Bandit," A tall skinny guy with a patch over one eye smiled at her, "Ivy," a girl with brown hair that hung straight to her shoulder blades and had blue eyes, "Bambi," a girl with honey colored hair and big hazel eyes nodded, "Chunk," A guy with a piece of his nose missing and a long scar reaching from the tip of his chin to the corner of his eye, "Bongo," A short guy with a black crew cut and dark brown eyes that twinkled with mischief, "And Hawk," A tall man that had long blonde hair in a ponytail that hung a little past his shoulder blades shook her hands.

"Welcome to the clown posse," Bambi told her with another smile.

"Thanks, Is this all of us?" Ami asked.

"No, there's one more, he's pretty quiet," Bongo told her.

"Who?" She asked.

"Silencer, over there by his sister," Ivy told her, pointing.

"Why isn't he over here?" She asked.

"he's probably going to practice with Catherine for a little bit," Ink told her. She nodded.

"That was some pretty impressive work with the arrows," Hawk told her.

"Either Minako or I are always the first out," She said ruefully.

"I was here early and was watching for a bit, You lasted about twenty minutes, and considering that your shooting arrows every five to ten seconds, I'd say you're good," Bandit told her with a chuckle.

"Not many people can do it," Chunk agreed.

"The others are a lot better than I am," She told them.

"Did you guys plan that thing with shooting at the younger girl from behind?" Bambi asked.

"No," Ami answered.

"how'd she know it was there?" Chunk asked.

"eye movements," Ami said with a smile.

"wow, talk about paying attention," Bongo said with a whistle.

"yeah," Ink agreed.

"When you've been working together for years, you kind of get used to watching every nuance of the other persons body motions," Ami told them. 

"What's the story with bowler girl?" Hawk asked suddenly. Ami turned to look around.

"Who's bowler girl?" She asked.

"The one with the bowler hat on," He reiterated. A sad look crossed Ami's face and quickly disappeared.

"What do you mean?" Ami asked.

"She's all quiet and she aint talking to nobody but Lady and the other newbie's," Ink supplied.

"She's a quiet person, when do we practice?" She abruptly changed the subject. The others left it alone for now. All of them had a past, some good, some bad. The thing was, you started to feel like a family after a while, and they all knew each others past's. Except for Silencer, but he didn't really talk to anyone. They wanted to help the girls, but they weren't sure how. 

"Later, first you need a name doll face," Ivy told her with a smile.

"good idea," Ink agreed.

"Like what?" Ami asked.

"I dunno, first show aint fer three weeks, by that time you'll have earned a name, unless you already have a nick name," Bongo told her.

"Other than Ames I don't have a nick name. And what do you mean earn it?" Ami asked.

"We will choose your name, don't worry your pretty little head," Bandit answered. She raised an eyebrow. 

"Alright then," She agreed.

  


With Minako

  


"Hi, I'm Minako, Georgio told me to come over here with you guys," She smiled at the people in the group.

"I'm Crackle," a woman told her. She had long brown hair in a ponytail at the base of her neck and it hung to her waist.

"I'm Badger, What do you need?" Asked a man that was about 6'6" and wiry. He had messy blonde hair and brown eyes. She blinked at his hard tone and took an automatic step back. Everyone else was stretching and stuff. These two had stopped to talk to her. Crackle seemed to notice the movement.

"Don't worry dear, he's like that to everyone," She told the blonde nicely. Minako eyed him warily and stepped back up so as to not seem scared.

"Well?" Badger asked impatiently. 

"I'm a tight rope walker," Minako said quietly.

"Welcome to the group," Crackle said warmly. Minako gave her a dazzling smile. 

"Stretch, now," Badger barked at her. She jumped back a step, a look of fear crossing her face. He wasn't even looking at her. Her bottom lip quivered. He was a big man, and he was angry. 

"Minako?" Makoto called from across the tent. The brunette stopped what she was doing and came over to Minako.

"What's the matter with you, stretch," Badger yelled. Crackle smacked him upside the head.

"She's scared of you, you nitwit," She told him. Makoto grabbed Minako's arm and pulled her towards her while glaring at the man. The people that had been stretching were now watching curiously.

"What's the matter with you?" Makoto asked him. Minako took a few deep breaths to steady herself and laughed slightly. 

"It's my fault, I'm being stupid," She told her friend. Makoto glanced down at her and frowned slightly.

"Don't worry dear, I'll keep this hunk of meat in line," Crackle told Makoto. 

"Alright," Makoto nodded and gave Badger a death glare that rivaled Heero's.

"Come now, we'll do introductions while we stretch," Crackle told Minako. She led Minako to a place in the circle so she was between Crackle and another girl. "Minako, why don't you start, and we'll go around the circle," 

"I'm Minako. My friends and I signed on yesterday afternoon," She told them.

"I'm Autumn," She said with a smile. The girl had amber colored hair that was in a ponytail that came to her shoulders.

"I'm Spring, Autumn's little sister," Said a girl with light green colored hair and big blue eyes.

"I'm Summer, Springs twin, don't worry about mixing us up," said a girl that was identical to Spring, only her hair was in a french braid.

"I'm Limbo," said a man that was only a couple inches taller than Minako. He had messy red hair and gray eyes. 

"I'm Flip," said a guy with dark brown hair and black eyes. 

"I'm Sky," said the girl. She had black hair and green eyes.

"The name's Sniff, pleased to meet you," said another man. He was thin and wiry with long curly black hair that was in a ponytail that hung midway down his back.

"I'm Burgundy," Said a girl with deep Burgundy hair and dark gray eyes.

"Star," A girl said with a smile and nod. She had dirty blond hair down to her shoulders and green eyes.

"I'm Snoopy," said another boy. He had brown hair that was cut really short and hazel eyes.

"Now that the intro's are done, let's practice," Badger said authoritatively.

"Minako, why don't you head on up to the rope and show us what you've got," Crackle told her.

"Alright," Minako climbed up the ladder to the rope and took a deep breath. Way up here, where no one else was, she knew she would be safe no matter what. It was her and the rope, nothing else mattered. She smiled as she stepped onto the rope. She had had years of dance and gymnastics lessons from when she was six to when she was twelve and she had discovered she was Sailor Venus. When she stood about three feet out onto the rope, she started the routine she had been doing for the past two weeks. lifted one leg off the rope and held her foot above her head. She then let go of her foot and put it back on the rope. She quickly did a cartwheel on the rope, and then started to 'swing' her legs while walking forward. Swinging her legs meant that she was putting one leg out directly to her side and bringing it back to her side and as soon as the foot that had just 'swung' was back on the rope, she did it to the other foot. She did this for a few minutes, and then did a few more flips and pirouettes and a hand stand. She stopped in the middle of the rope, took a bow, and calmly walked off the rope. She climbed down the ladder a little out of breath and smiled at the people around her. 

"That was fantastic," Spring enthused.

"Oh my, you are definitely going to have to do that at the next show," Crackle said with a smile on her face.

"That would be great," she walked around in a circle for a minute to let her breathing and muscles relax a bit and smiled at everyone.

  


With Rei and Hotaru

  


"Where do we go?" Hotaru asked as she watched her friends go off in different directions. 

"We don't exactly have a lot of partners and stuff," Rei agreed.

"You two are looped in the dangerous stuff. you'll have to see Fish for that, he's over there" He pointed to a trio of people off in one corner. "The thing is, He's a bit of an odd ball. he's an absolute genius when it comes to making the audience sit on the edge of their seats, but sometimes he wants to do things that are damn near impossible, I think that Your just the kind of Quacks that would get along with that crazy son of a bitch, Fish" The girls grinned.

"No problem," Hotaru answered.

"It should be fun," Rei agreed.

"Edge of the seats huh?" Hotaru asked. Georgio looked at them warily.

"We can do better than that," Rei agreed.

"We'll make them jump off their seats in terror," Hotaru finished.

"Uh oh, I'm staring to think you two and Fish may not be so good for each other," Georgio said with a groan.

"See you later," Rei called as the two walked over to Fish and the other two.

"Hello, are you Fish?" Rei asked as she got to the little group.

"that would be me," A man told them. He had a dark gray ponytail that went past his waist, a goatee, and big brown eyes. 

"We were sent here because, and I quote, 'Your just the kind of Quacks that would get along with that crazy son of a bitch, Fish'," Hotaru told him. He laughed.

"Georgio always did think I belonged on a funny farm," Fish said with a laugh.

"Yeah, well, people say that about all of us all the time," Rei answered, "Especially Hotaru. You'd think she was fearless," Rei shuddered delicately.

"Bite me Rei, Who are you two?" Hotaru asked turning to the others. She recognized one as the Lion trainer.

"I'm Catherine, and this is my brother Trowa," the girl said. She had curly auburn hair. She smiled. 

"I'm hotaru, this is Rei," Hotaru said in introduction.

"I saw your little arrow trick this morning," Fish said with a raised eyebrow.

"We were just messing around," Rei told him.

"How long did it take you to practice getting shot at from behind?" he asked Hotaru.

"We don't," Hotaru told him.

"Then how'd you know to catch it?" Catherine asked.

"Eye movements," Hotaru answered.

"ah ha," Fish crowed, "Finally people who know how to do things properly," He smiled at them.

"Are you picking on me again?" Catherine asked with mack hurt in her eyes.

"Of course," he answered immediately.

"Crazy old man," she said.

"pretty young girl," he retorted. 

"Well, with that answer you are off the hook for now," Catherine told him.

"yippee," He answered.

"What is it you do exactly?" Rei asked Fish.

"I rope people into doing things no one else in their right minds would want to do," He answered.

"Sounds like fun, rope me in anytime," Hotaru told him.

"I think I love you," Fish told Hotaru.

"Gee, I'm touched," She told him drily.

"ignore him," Catherine said.

"Ignore her," Rei said at the same time. They looked at each other and laughed. 

"You're rather quiet," Hotaru observed.

". . ." Trowa answered.

"Hn," Hotaru told him.

". . . Hn," He remarked.

"whatever floats you boat," Hotaru said, turning to the other three.

"Who knew, she speaks Silencer," Fish remarked.

"What do you want us to do first?" Rei asked.

"You aren't going by your real names, here we use alias' we don't like trouble in any way," Fish told them. 

"Uh . . . " Rei bit her lip.

"What are your acts?" Catherine asked.

"Fire hoops, and stuff," Rei answered. 

"Anything to make the audience hold their breath in Terror," Hotaru said. 

"Pyro and Panic," Trowa said.

"It speaks," Fish said in good humor. 

"They fit more than you will ever know," Hotaru said with a smirk. He looked her straight in the eyes and raised an brow.

"Let's see your hoop act," Fish told Rei.

"Alright, I've already done it once, but what the hay," Rei said. She walked over to grab the hoops and grabbed a bottle of something else as well. She came over and handed the hoops to Hotaru and shook up the bottle in her hands. Hotaru put the end of the hoop In the ground and moved to put another one in (AN- the hoops are actually more like a short 'P' so that people can hold them, or they can be put in the ground.) She was putting them up randomly, and Rei was following behind her and pouring the liquid into a little hole in the top of the hoops. When she was done, she handed something to Hotaru and they both went around lighting the hoops on fire.

"This should be interesting," Catherine commented.

"I'm glad Georgio found them," Fish agreed. Rei stood in the middle of the rings and smiled as she watched Hotaru move out of the way. Michiru came from nowhere with a bucket of water and set it down next to Hotaru before moving away again. Rei pulled out a hair band and put her hair up. Hotaru watched as Rei went through the rings without getting so much as singed. Not the she had expected anything different. Even if the flames had touched Rei, they wouldn't have burned her skin. Not as the Senshi if Fire. 

"Alright, time for me to stop showing off," Rei said with a grin fifteen minutes later. She wasn't even sweating.

"Yup, most definitely," Hotaru said with a grin. She went over to the hoops and put something in the holes on the top and soon the flames were gone. 

"I've got a new act that I wanted to do, but I wasn't sure if anyone was crazy enough to pull the stunt," Fish told them.

"Spill it to them while trowa and I practice," Catherine said. Trowa moved a board to the middle of the thing and leaned against it, his eyes closed. His sister started to play with her knives before throwing them. She threw each one so that they landed about three inches from each part of his skin. He yawned once on accident and got a smile from his sister. 

  


With Makoto and Usagi

  


"So, you are the animal trainers?" Makoto asked as she walked over to the group.

"That would be us," girl said. She had short spiky blonde hair, "I'm Dish," she held out a hand to the two girls.

"I'm Usagi, This is Makoto," She said with a smile.

"These are Hoof, Dawn, Sandy, Keg, and Candy Man," Dish told them. Hoof was lean and had a hat on so that you couldn't see his hair and his eyes were shadowed. Dawn had orange hair in a braid that hung to her knee's, Keg had messy dirty blonde hair, a beard, and gray eyes. Candy man had amber colored hair and brown eyes.

"What can we do for you?" Sandy asked affably.

"We were wondering if we could," Usagi was interrupted by Makoto yelling Minako's name.

"Excuse me," Makoto said, she took off to Minako. Usagi watched for a moment and then turned back to those in front of her.

"Alright, then. we were told that we had to talk to you if we wanted to do a routine with any of the animals," She told them.

"That would be correct," Keg agreed.

"Horses, elephants, or Lions?" Dawn asked.

"Uh, I was thinking Horses or Elephants," Usagi said.

"What kind of routine?" Hoof asked.

"dance and a bit of gymnastics," Usagi answered.

"Elephants," Candy Man told her.

"alright," She answered. Makoto came back, "everything alright?" She asked.

"Yeah, Some big guy was yelling and acting gruff, and , well, you know how Minako is now," Makoto said with a frown. Usagi nodded.

"Alright then, You'll get to meet the elephants in a moment,' Hoof said. He and the others took them to another large tent where the Elephants were kept. 

"Alright, We have ten Elephants, four of which have partners," Dish told them. 

"So we can't use those four," Usagi said with a nod.

"They are the four easiest to handle," Dawn said with a smile.

"No problem," Makoto said. She and Usagi looked the animals over and walked up to each one, talking to it and rubbing there trunks. The Elephants seemed to like them.

"Can I try it with this one?" Usagi asked as she petted one of the Elephants' trunks.

"Titanium," Dish said with smile.

"And this one," Makoto said.

"Are you sure? He's a bit of a prick most of the time," Dawn told her.

"That's Ok, what's his name?" Makoto asked.

"Crabby," answered Keg.

  


~*~*~*~*

  


Damia - "The only reason I haven't posted these chapters is that I'm horrible and I didn't think anyone liked this Story. Tenshi-Hotaru helped me see the error of my ways. If any of you have suggestions, feel free to tell me. I actually implement quite a few of them," 


End file.
